The distinguishing characteristics and relationships found among the "Analytical Reading Inventory," the "Durrell Analysis of Reading Difficulty," and the Spache "Diagnostic Reading Scales" in terms of readability levels, oral and silent reading results, and independent and instructional reading levels were examined in a study involving 117 first,…

The study reported in this paper was designed to describe the differences between the reading-difficulty levels of primary textbooks used in first-semester freshman general studies courses and the reading skills of the students enrolled in those courses, and to compare the Flesch Reading Ease Formula with the SMOG Grading Formula. Separate…

A comparative-historical perspective was used in analyzing the readabilities of three newspapers and three magazines. A total of 270 100-word samples were collected from the Chicago "Tribune," the New York "Times," the Memphis "Commercial Appeal,""Cosmopolitan,""Atlantic Monthly," and…

The Horner research sought to (1) determine the readability of current first-year bookkeeping texts and compare them with a 1965 study, (2) compare students' reading achievement with the earlier study, and (3) determine the suitability of current texts based on the texts' readability levels and the students' reading level. (Author/BP)

Indicates that newspapers are as readable today as they were in 1904, although the complexity of language they use has increased. Shows that magazines were significantly more readable than the newspapers published during the same time periods. (RL)

A computer program called TEXAN (Textual Analysis of Language Samples) was developed for use in calculating frequency of characters, words, punctuation units, and stylistic variables. Its usefulness in determining readability levels was examined in an analysis of language samples from 20 elementary tradebooks used as supplementary reading…

Critical to the youthful user of the library is his comprehension of subject headings. This study undertook an investigation of two aspects of the subject headings for juvenile literature: first, an analysis of the vocabulary levels employed in the four systems of subject headings currently in use; second, a specific analysis of the Machine…

The validity of the Dale-Chall Readability ratings for sixth-grade science textbooks when compared to an independent criterion of language difficulty expressed in cloze units was examined. The Canadian Lorge-Thorndike IQ Test and the Canadian Test of Basic Skills, Vocabulary and Comprehension subtests, were administered to 366 sixth graders. Mean…